In general, soybean protein has become to be used as a protein material for ice cream, yogurt, cheese, dressing etc. and has also become to be used in other food products such as fish paste products, household dishes, cakes, bread, noodles, various dairy products etc., and soybean protein has become a very promissing product as a food material.
However, where such soybean protein is used as a food material, it should have good mouthfeel and high processability.
Heretofore, as the process for producing a food material from soybean protein, there have been, for example, an acid coagulation process, a calcium coagulation process, a magnesium coagulation process, an enzyme process, a heating process, an alcohol flocculation process, etc.
However, the food materials obtained by these conventional processes had many problems, for example, the acid taste remained, a salty taste was manifested, or a bitter taste was imparted, the coagulation was too strong to give rough mouthfeel, the processability was poor, and so forth.